John Bivens, the director of research at the Economic Policy Institute Policy Center, told Newsweek that $2.75 trillion in tax revenue “would come really close to paying for her child care, free college and debt forgiveness proposals.”
Newsweek
July 1, 2019
But those who argue for business-friendly tax cuts usually leave out a crucial part of the fiscal equation: cutting taxes means less revenue to spend on public investment. There is plenty of evidence that investment drives growth in local economies, especially when directed toward infrastructure and education. In fact, according to an Economic Policy Institute report, investments in public capital contribute significantly to private-sector productivity, with estimated rates of return averaging around 30 percent.
Kellogg Insight
July 1, 2019
But the update was challenged in court and ultimately struck down. Rather than defend the Obama update, the Trump administration first did nothing, and then put forward its own proposed increase to $35,308 without any automatic updates. According to the Economic Policy Institute, it will cover 8.2 million fewer people than the Obama rule would eventually have.
“This is a standard that is really important to the vibrancy of the middle class, and it has dramatically eroded over time,” said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. The minimum wage raises pay and living standards for those at the very bottom, but overtime is “about the lower end of the middle class,” she said. The typical person impacted by it is the front-line supervisor in a fast food restaurant or retail store — a low-level manager who may be asked to put in 60 to 70 hours a week at no additional pay. Updating overtime therefore acts as a “companion standard” to increasing the minimum wage, she said.
Talk Poverty
July 1, 2019
At the federal level, a $15 minimum wage phased in by 2024 would directly lift the wages of 28.1 million workers, according to calculations by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. That would add up to an average 20 percent raise for year-round workers.
The current $7.25 minimum hourly rate was set in 2009, right in the middle of the Great Recession. Since then, America’s lowest-paid workers have lost about $3,000 a year when you consider the rising cost of living, according to calculations from the Economic Policy Institute.
VOX
July 1, 2019
Governor Evers’ proposal mirrors what Wisconsin’s neighbor, Minnesota, has done over the past decades. Under Governor Mark Dayton’s leadership, Minnesota raised its minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.50 between 2014 and 2017. Yet, an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report finds that Minnesota has outperformed Wisconsin on job growth and that “on virtually every metric, workers and families in Minnesota are better off than their counterparts in Wisconsin.”
PR Watch
July 1, 2019
According to the Economic Policy Institute, more than half of private-sector employers enforce mandatory arbitration contracts—about 40 percent of which include class action waivers. In other words, approximately 24.7 million Americans have agreed not to file class action lawsuits against their employers.
ClassAction.org
July 1, 2019
That was the subject of a conference held yesterday by the Economic Policy Institute. One of its keynote speakers was Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky from Illinois’ 9th Congressional district. We spoke with her on Monday and asked about the top .1% of income earners.
The 21st
July 1, 2019
Those raises also add up in overall statistics. The Economic Policy Institute’s research shows that between 2013 and 2018, the wages of very low-wage workers rose significantly faster—50 percent faster—if they lived in states with minimum wage increases compared with those who did not.
Newsweek
June 28, 2019
When the legislation was introduced in 2017, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute argued that the bill would lower wages for employees working on federal construction projects. “Because unions’ collective bargaining power has been eroded over the years, construction wages are lower today than they were in 1970, despite 40 years of economic growth and a higher national income.” Read a press release about the legislation here. More from ABC on its support of the bill here.
Politico
June 28, 2019
Adding a little more complexity, there is a difference between the top 10% of earners and the top 10% of taxpayers. To be a top-10% earner, you merely have to make $118,000. In October of 2018, the Economic Policy Institute published a study showing that the top 1% reached the highest wages ever in 2017. But when you read all those stories about the 1%—or even the top 5% or 10%—how much money do you need to pull in to be in one of those groups?
Phil Stock World
June 28, 2019